End of chapter 3

New Zealand has been good. The scenery is undeniably spectacular, Auckland and Wellington are both friendly, unintimidating cities, and the people are very friendly too. But I think my expectations of NZ might have been a bit high - everyone I know who´s been has loved it, and it didn´t quite hit those heights for me. The weather hasn´t helped - frankly it´s no better than the English climate, but I think the bigger thing for me is that, with only 150 years of history since Europeans arrived, there´s just not much character or soul to any of the places we visited - most towns seemed carbon copies of each other - just a bunch of prefabricated, box-shaped houses and shops set along a thoroughly practical street layout. And with only 4 million people in the whole country, a lot of the places I stayed at seemed virtually deserted. It´s that more than its geography that gives it a sense (for me) of overwhelming remoteness.

But in spite of that I´ve had a good time here, especially the north island with KP. But I´m ready to move on to the final, and longest leg of the expedition, South America, with stops in Chile, Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia and Peru. Now there´s a place that shouldn´t be short on character. Where´s that Spanish phrasebook?

written by  phileasdogg on December 25, 2008 from Auckland, New Zealand
from the travel blog: Planes, Trains & Taxiwallahs
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